FIFA president Sepp Blatter – who is set to be re-elected for a final four-year term on Wednesday after his only rival in the vote, Mohamed Bin Hammam, withdrew from the running – insisted on Monday that FIFA was “not in a crisis” despite arguably the most turbulent weekend in the history of the organisation. Bin Hammam, president of the Asian Football Confederation, pulled out of the presidential race after being suspended by FIFA's ethics committee over allegations that financial incentives were offered to Caribbean Football Union members.
FIFA vice-president Jack Warner, who has also been suspended following similar claims from fellow Executive Committee member Chuck Blazer, subsequently revealed an email in which FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke suggested Bin Hammam had “bought” the 2022 World Cup finals for Qatar. Valcke has since attempted to play down his remarks, and Qatar 2022 itself issued a statement on Monday claiming that Valcke's words had been “taken out of context” and its bid had been “dragged through the mud for absolutely no reason”.
Following the extraordinary developments over the weekend, a Coca-Cola spokesperson told the Press Association: “The current allegations being raised are distressing and bad for the sport. We have every expectation that FIFA will resolve this situation in an expedient and thorough manner.” An Adidas spokesman had earlier commented: “Adidas enjoys a long-term, close and successful partnership with FIFA that we are looking forward to continuing. Adidas will be an official sponsor of FIFA World Cup 2014 in Brazil. Having said that, the negative tenor of the public debate around FIFA at the moment is neither good for football nor for FIFA and its partners.”
Blatter told a press conference on Monday that he did not agree with suggestions, from the UK government among others, that Wednesday's presidential election should be postponed. “If governments try to intervene then something is wrong,” he said. “I think FIFA is strong enough that we can deal with our problems inside FIFA.”
The 75-year-old started his solo appearance in front of the media by welcoming the findings of an independent inquiry that cleared four FIFA Executive Committee members over allegations made by former Football Association (FA) chairman Lord Triesman. “The executive committee of FIFA was very pleased to receive the report of the FA regarding the allegations made by Lord Triesman at the House of Commons,” he said. “We were happy that we can confirm there are no elements in this report which would even prompt any proceedings.”
